The Hard Crime Debut
by Ad Astra Per Alia Porci
Summary: Snickers. Complete. An advanced copy of the lab's Hard Crime episode is given out and everyone involved gathers 'round to watch it. Just a fun post ep and another excuse for some romance.
1. The Screening

A/N: As part of my new vow to never post unless the fic is done, this is a bit behind schedule. I got stuck for an ending and it was only my looming exams which pushed me to finish it, haha. Anyway, this is a post ep to "I Like To Watch". I hope you like it. As always, let me know what you think if you have the time; it'll give me something to look forward to during study breaks. There are three chapters after this one and, if all goes according to plan, I'll add a new one each night. Thanks for reading.

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"Why wouldn't he wait to watch it with us?" Nick frowned. He and the rest of the night crew – including lab techs and the receptionist – were all gathered in the break room. Catherine had told them all to meet her there after shift. 

"Well, Jim was really anxious about his interview; he wanted to see how much of him they put in the episode before he wanted anyone else watch it… and Gil was with him when he got the package so they watched it together," Catherine explained waving her hand through the air as if it didn't matter. "Point is: I have it now and am going to screen it at my house in forty-five minutes," she turned to the general gathering of her co-workers, "Anyone who wants to join my daughter and I is welcome." _Hard Crime_ had finished putting the Fireman-rapist episode together and had shipped Brass an advanced copy of it to pass around since he was in charge of the case.

The group was silent for a minute after Catherine's invitation. Half the people in the room were wondering whether they had the energy left over to stay awake to watch it; the rest were just waiting for more volunteers because they weren't friendly enough with Catherine for the outing to be comfortable. "Well?" she prompted. Catherine had to leave ASAP to get Lindsay and clean up the house, she didn't have time for their mulling.

"I'm in," Nick replied first with a genuinely excited smile. A few feet to Nick's right, Greg nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Me too," Warrick supplied right after; Tina would still be at work anyway. No need to rush home to an empty house.

"I'll come," Archie nodded, "Is it alright if I bring my girlfriend? She's really excited about the episode."

"Of course. Any spouses/significant others are welcome as well," Catherine announced. "Since I know that at least a few are coming, I don't really need an answer from the rest of you. I've got to go pick up Lindsay," she said pulling on her jacket, "but if you want to come, show up at my house in forty-five minutes or an hour… uh, Nicky knows where it is; if you don't, ask him. Bye," she called as did a light jog down the hall and out the front exit of the lab.

Nick turned to his colleagues while pulling out a pen and paper, "I'll give you the address but that's it. You want the exact instructions from your place to hers or from here to Cat's house… Mapquest it." Some of the lab techs walked up to him to grab a sheet of the paper that he was busy scribbling Catherine's address on. Meanwhile Warrick, Sara, and Greg left to the locker room.

"What're you going to do until it's time to go over?" Greg asked as he pushed through the door.

"Dunno yet," Warrick shrugged. "Grab some food, maybe?"

"Can I join you?" he glanced over his shoulder as both men began fiddling with their respective lockers.

"No." Warrick replied with a stone face. Greg muttered a disappointed "Oh" and Warrick couldn't hold a straight face anymore. He chuckled at his friend's gullibility, "I'm just kidding, man. O'course you can… you too, Sara." He assumed it was always an open invitation to his co-workers to hang out but he also knew Sara wouldn't ever be one to clarify lest she felt it became a pity invite.

Sara smiled over at him, "I haven't decided whether I'm going to Cat's yet…"

"What's there to decide?" Greg looked truly confused. "This is our television debut!"

She couldn't hide the amused smile at his child-like wonder at being on TV. "Actually, I've been on the television a few times; mostly the news though…"

"Fine; this is our _Hard Crime_ debut!" he amended without missing a beat.

"Com'on Sar," Warrick encouraged, shutting his locker and walking to Greg's side. He placed one of his large hands under Greg's chin and smushed his face together with his fingers and thumb. "How can you say no to this face?" Warrick cooed as he shook Greg's head back and forth subtly.

The failed pout that Greg attempted with his squished 'fish face' was too much; Sara giggled at the men and agreed to come along with them with a resigned sigh. "Fine." Warrick released Greg's face and the former lab-tech rubbed his cheeks, the pout finally forming properly.

"Breakfast too?" Greg pulled out his jacket and kicked his locker closed.

"Breakfast too," Sara confirmed with a smile.

"Good." The two men sat down on the bench in the middle of the locker room to wait until she was ready to leave.

"…so you wanna come and watch it then?" Nick entered the locker room with his cell to his ear. "Great," a big smile appeared on his face and the attention of all three people in the room.

Sara finished gathering up her stuff and shut her locker. She threw on her jacket and motioned to the boys that she was ready to go, not really wanting to hear Nick ask who she could only assume was a new girlfriend to join them at Catherine's. However, Warrick tugged her down onto the bench beside him with a smirk. He was clearly interested in hearing Nick's conversation.

"Are you done work yet? … Well, if you want to meet up now we can carpool; I could go to you or you could come to me…" Nick trailed off as he strolled over to his locker, squishing the cell between his head and his shoulder while he spun the combo. "…actually, that doesn't sound half-bad," he laughed, though his smile was slightly dimmer. He straightened his head and held the phone again as he lock popped open. "Okay. You got a pen?" There was another brief pause before Nick rattled off Catherine's address and the nearest intersection. "Yup… forty-five minutes to an hour. Uh-huh. Alright, see you then." The smile was back again as he flicked his wrist to shut the cell and then clipped it to his belt. He looked over to his friends, noticing Greg and Warrick's smug stares. Sara, on the other hand, was looking down at her jacket and fiddling with the undone zipper. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Greg replied with a grin that implied the exact opposite.

"Who were you talking to?" Warrick asked with a similar grin.

Nick laughed at his friends, "That was just Sophia." He reached into his locker and began exchanging work items for his casual items.

"Curtis?" Sara asked, feeling a funny turn in her stomach.

"Yeah," he glanced over his shoulder at Sara but she still wasn't looking at him. He looked beside her and found a very amused Warrick grinning back at him. Beside him, Greg was looking rather pleased with the information as well. "Oh, com'on guys!" he laughed at their expressions. "I just wanted to make sure she was invited too. After all, she was one of the leads on the case… she's bound to be in it a lot." He defended.

"Sure," Warrick replied with scepticism. "And the invite to hang out until then… professional courtesy, right?"

Nick fished some more in his locker to hide the blush creeping up his face because of what they were implying. He chuckled again, "Calm down. That was just to give me something to do until it was time to go over."

"Sounded a little less innocent…" Greg commented, enjoying the conversation immensely.

"Well, it wasn't." Hoping his face was the proper colour, Nick closed his locker and faced his friends. Seeing Sara again, he found his subject change, "Sar, you're coming to watch it right?"

"It's not fair to have _two_ dates to the movie, Nick," Greg teased, bringing colour to two faces that time.

Sara smacked Greg in the arm, "Yeah, I'm going to Catherine's."

"Good," he smiled as she finally looked up at him. Both noticed the blush on the other's face with interest.

"All right kids, I'm hungry," Warrick announced standing up. "If we're all ready, let's head out and grab some food." He figured the ribbing could continue in a restaurant since they didn't have too much time to spare.

Greg jumped up, eagerly rubbing his hands together. "Where to?"

"We can get food at the diner in forty minutes, right?" Warrick asked as he led the other three out into the hallway and towards the exit.

"Worse comes to worse, we can get it to go and eat it at Catherine's…" Sara suggested logically. "You joining us?" she turned to Nick as he held open the front door for her.

"Nah, I think I'm going to head home for a quick shower…" he sounded slightly disappointed to turn her down. However he'd decided when Sophia had turned him down, so that she could clean up and change first, that he was looking forward to the warm shower spray more than a warm meal. He could grab a Pop-tart or something before heading over to Catherine's.

Greg laughed, "Well, yeah guys. He's got to look nice for his date!"

"Yes, that's it," Nick spoke with sarcasm. "I have to run home and clean up otherwise my date with Sophia, to watch a fifty-minute episode about a real-life rape case with about a dozen of our co-workers at Catherine's house, might be ruined."

Greg pointed a finger at him. "He admitted it!" he called with a goofy grin.

Nick's hand reached out and smacked the back of Greg's head without much effort. "I'll catch up with you guys at Cat's place," he waved and stepped away from them and towards his car.

"Don't forget the flowers!" Greg yelled. Nick's only response was to rub the back of his neck with his only his middle finger.


	2. On With the Show

A/N: Haha, I love that the reviews I got were worried about Sophia. No worries, I'm a Snicker. Sara gets him in the end… to steal The Notorious Cat's phrasing, Sophia's just "plot corn starch". Anyway, leave a review if you have time. Thanks for reading.

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Sara, Warrick and Greg had been able to eat at the diner but were the last people to arrive to Catherine's as a consequence, though they were still on time. "Well, looks like Nick was right about the dozen people. I'm actually a little surprised," Warrick said as they knocked twice before letting themselves in Catherine's house.

"Everyone's here to see themselves on television… Never underestimate the power of the ego," Sara replied as they surveyed the collection of co-workers lounging around the living room. There was only one open place to sit, a lazy-boy, but that was surely reserved for Catherine to sit on.

Archie and his girlfriend were sitting on one of the couches with Doc Robins and his wife. On the floor in front of them sat Hodges, Jacqui, and Mandy. On a couple of chairs pulled in from the kitchen sat Judy and a man that they were willing to assume was her husband.

"And look who's sitting in the _love_-seat," Greg giggled as he pointed out Nick and Sophia on the other side of the room. They looked cozy enough, huddled together talking in low voices. Greg, Warrick and Sara made their way towards them, stopping briefly to greet Doc Robins' wife and meet Archie's girlfriend and the man who was introduced as Judy's fiancé. Every step closer to Nick and Sophia made Sara feel a little more uncomfortable. She had just spent the last hour listening to Greg and Warrick speculate about their relationship. Apparently Nick and Sophia had hung out outside of work a few times lately and the boys seemed to think that something more was developing. The more that Sara heard, the more she wished she had decided to skip this little get-together. She really didn't want to see them together and, worse, she was starting to realize why.

They were only a couple of feet away from them by the time they were noticed. Sophia glanced over at them and then promptly shushed Nick, effectively killing the conversation before his friends had arrived. "Hey guys," Nick greeted with a grin. Then he noticed the twinkle in Greg's eye and shot the young man a look warning him not to comment on him and Sophia. "I tried to grab the couch so we could all fit, but Archie and his girl beat me here so this was the best I could do," he shrugged an apology.

"We did manage to get some pillows from Catherine for you guys to sit on though," Sophia smiled, handing Warrick and Greg a couple of pillows from the floor beside the couch. Nick pulled out the last one, which he had been leaning on, and plopped it down on to the floor at his feet. Sara was a little weary of sitting so close to them, but at least Nick had made it so she was farthest away from Sophia.

"Thanks," Sara and the others replied. She made a motion to sit down but Nick stopped her and stood up.

"That's my pillow," he told her with a smile, gently tugging on her arm to swap their places so that she could sit on the couch.

"Oh, Nick, you don't have to--" Sara protested mildly. She felt relieved that Nick had moved away from Sophia but would still be right by herself… then she felt guilty for feeling that way. She also wanted to convince herself that she was confused why she felt the relief but in a moment of weakness she gave up the self-imposed lies. She couldn't bring herself to deny it at the moment, not after the way her body had reacted simply from his hand on her arm.

"You're welcome," he cut her off and sat down as the other two guys did the same. Greg was in front of Sophia and Warrick was wedged in between Nick and Greg. Sara reluctantly sat down beside Sophia, a little uncomfortable to be beside a woman that had somehow become her rival for yet another guy. The way Sophia was looking at her didn't make her feel any calmer either; she looked like she was in on some big secret that Sara didn't know and couldn't wait to brag about it. Sara simply looked elsewhere though, afraid to call her on it in case Sophia announced she and Nick were dating now or something equally horrific.

"Where's Catherine?" Warrick asked. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the lady in question entered the room with her daughter in tow, both holding fresh bowls of popcorn.

"Greg!" Lindsay smiled broadly as she brought over a bowl of popcorn. She sat down on the floor beside Greg and rested the popcorn half on her leg and half on his and began munching away on it. Catherine had once mentioned that Lindsay had developed a crush on him the last time the group had come over for a barbeque.

Catherine looked over as she set the other bowl down on the coffee table in front of the rest of her guests. "Oh, hey guys," she greeted. "Linds, that's for everyone, not just you and Greg," she scolded, catching sight of her little girl. Lindsay blushed but didn't change the arrangement of the popcorn. Catherine shook her head, a tiny smile appearing at the corner of her lips, and then looked over at Nick, "How many more are we waiting for?"

"Uhh, Bobby said that he might come… but it's not very likely since he wasn't interviewed at all for this… so I don't think we have to wait for him even if he does show up," Nick supplied, leaning back against Sara's legs. She couldn't help but smile a little as he did. Then she saw Sophia watching them curiously and Sara couldn't resist flashing her a triumphant smile as if this innocent contact meant that Sara had won Nick. This only seemed to amuse Sophia and Sara quickly lost her grin in confusion.

"Rick, Greg, Sara: You guys want anything to drink?" Catherine waited while the all refused. "Well, you know where the kitchen is if you change your mind… All right," she turned to the rest of the room, "If everyone's ready, I'm going to start it up now." There were random cheers scattered around the tiny group, started by Greg, and Catherine laughed at the few that had made them. She made her way to the free lazy-boy and sat back while picking up the remote and hit play.

As the title of the showed up on the screen the cheers rose up again. Nick was the instigator this time. He turned a bit, placing his elbow and forearm on Sara's thighs to grin at the ladies behind him. Sara was disappointed to see him smile at Sophia first, but as soon as he met her own eyes with his excited smile her disappointment disappeared. In fact, by the time he turned to the television again she felt extremely satisfied. Nick had left his arm on her leg so that his elbow was halfway up her leg and his hand was dangling in the air a few inches in front of her knee. Sara missed the entire introduction to the case because she was too busy trying to restrain her smile and blush from his touch. It was a good thing she already knew the plot.


	3. Everyone's Favourite Parts

"_What about the fireman thing?_" A voice asked over the footage of the rapist entering the building stairwell.

"I dunno," Brass answered, the television filling with a shot of him from the chest up. "I guess he wanted to be a fireman when he grew up…"

The scene was switched over to the perp being dragged away by a few police officers in slow motion. _"You ever hear the saying, 'Only the dumb ones get caught'?"_ The camera man's voice floated over the image of the man in orange being pulled down the hall. "Yeah, but we catch the smart ones too," Greg's voice replied as a snapshot of the rapist in his holding cell replaced the slow-mo image.

Then there was a brief pause before Nick was shown for the last time. "We don't like it when the bad guy walks," he said with a tiny smirk to one side. Suddenly the shot of Nick began to fold onto itself and turned into a manila file folder. The last image on the screen before the credits was the case folder with the words "Case Solved" stamped in red letters across the top of it. Cheers erupted from everyone in the room except Hodges.

"That's it!" he ranted over the noise, "I was on there for two-seconds! And most of my face was blocked by that damn microscope and Sara!"

"Cat, fast-forward the credits to our names!" Greg suggested. Catherine complied and doubled the video speed until the words "Special thanks to:" appeared at the bottom, then she resumed at normal speed. Their names were listed in alphabetical order by surname, so Brass' name came up first. There was polite clapping for all the names that they knew but weren't present, but loud whooping when they were there. Since Warrick was the first one listed that was at Catherine's, as his name swam onto the screen he stood up and took an obnoxious bow. Everyone to follow did the same, however Sara needed some encouragement from Nick. His hands on her waist were the only thing to make her concede to the silly gesture.

Finally, when the screen had turned blue, Catherine was allowed to turn off the tape to rewind it. "Bring that to the lab tomorrow and I'll make copies of it for everyone," Archie suggested. "That was awesome!"

"Only because you had a full four minutes of screen-time!" Hodges crossed his arms and grumbled. He shot a dangerous look over to Sara, "And without anyone obstructing you!"

"They choose the angle Hodges, not me…" Sara defended.

"Besides, you know they only put the beautiful people on TV…" Nick patted her leg as he said it but didn't turn to catch her reaction, which was predictably a blush. "And yours is a face for radio, Hodges," Nick winked as Hodges switched his glare to Nick.

"So everyone's favourite parts?" Doc Robbins broke in to keep the peace.

"Hands down the guy looking at the video tapes!" Archie's girlfriend enthused, "He was hot." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I agree," Archie laughed. "What a stud!"

"Okay, everyone's favourite parts _excluding _their own, or their significant other's, screen-time," Warrick amended.

"I liked that they were able to throw the 'What's wrong with you' line into Hodges' two-seconds of fame," Jacqui laughed.

"Thanks for that, by the way," Hodges once more glared at Sara.

"Griss' first line!" Greg exclaimed suddenly, "I **love** that they got one of his one-liners on tape!" That got a good laugh out of everyone who'd worked the field with Grissom before.

"I think the flashlight cam was cool," Mandy said, not understanding the significance of the one-liner.

"Can I vote for that too even though my mom was kind of in it?" Lindsay asked looking to Warrick as if he had become some sort of official.

"Sure," Warrick shrugged.

"The shot of the fire guys beating the crap out of the rapist," Sophia supplied. There was a loud chorus of agreement on that.

"The ending was pretty good," Sara stated.

"Thank you!" Nick spoke excitedly, turning a bit to face her, "I was wondering when someone would bring that up." Sara reached forward and rumpled his hair a bit; he just grinned at her.

"I liked Gil's responses to the questions about Forensic TV shows…" Catherine said thoughtfully. "Especially the look on his face when the elevator doors closed."

"Oh! Or the random pissed off look they spliced in just before the second commercial break… Actually, the whole death-glare montage was good," Judy laughed. "Sara and Sophia each had a good one in there."

"Speaking of Sophia," Nick turned his attention to her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "How about the interrogation with the boyfriend?" Whistles and cat-calls sprung up from all the men in the room. Sophia slapped Nick's arm, which was still resting over Sara's legs, as she blushed slightly. The only one not amused by the comment was Sara, though the only one who seemed to notice was Sophia, who actually looked apologetic.

"Yeah," Warrick piped in, raising his hand high in the air as he spoke, "I just want to say that I have dibs on all future interrogations with Sophia." Greg and Nick put on a little fight for show. This time Lindsay didn't look amused either.

"Alright guys," Archie spoke up, "As fun as this is, we're going to head out now."

"Us too, I think," Doc Robbins said as his wife helped him off the couch.

"Well thank you for coming," Catherine said graciously, showing off her innate hostess manners.

"Thank you for inviting us," the Doc returned. Slowly the rest of the group muttered their respective excuses and began to edge towards the door.

The room slowly drained of visitors until only the quartet of CSIs and Sophia remained, with Lindsay hovering a few feet away. Sophia made a general plea for someone to join her for breakfast that only Greg ended up accepting. While Warrick and Sara were satisfied from their food at the diner after shift, Greg said that he was in the mood for some dessert and, more importantly, that it would be a crime for a beautiful, budding, young star to eat alone after her _Hard Crime_ debut. So, much to Lindsay's chagrin, Sophia lightened Warrick's carpool list by one. The pair bid their farewell, Sophia pausing long enough to whisper something in Nick's ear to make him blush and grin bashfully, and ambled towards the foyer where Catherine was still chatting with Judy and her fiancé. Lindsay slunk after them to say goodbye at the door.

Meanwhile, the two other men swivelled around to face the remaining female. "So, what's up now?" Nick looked from Sara to Warrick then back to Sara again. He was quick to start the subject so that they wouldn't ask what Sophia had whispered to him. Surprisingly, Warrick let it go… but Nick had a sinking suspicion that he had heard a bit of it; the smirk on Warrick's face was far too smug if he hadn't.

"Well, after I drop Sara off at the lab, I'm going to head home and catch some Zs," Warrick replied with no hesitation.

"And they say marriage kills your sense of adventure…" Nick muttered teasingly.

"You feelin' alright, Nicky? You're looking a little green," Warrick pulled out his patented 'You're-just-jealous' comeback. Nick, despite the number of times Warrick threw these challenges at him, still hadn't thought up an appropriate response to them. Instead, he sneered playfully until he couldn't hold his smile back anymore. "That's what I thought," Warrick said smugly. "You should hurry up and get one of your own." Yup, Warrick had definitely heard Sophia. Nick started to colour again and quickly refocused the discussion.

"How 'bout you, Sar? You up to doing something?" Nick asked casually. He ignored the smirk playing at Warrick's mouth.

"I don't know," she tried to use the same tone he had. "What've you got in mind?"

"Nothing; but I'm open for suggestions," Nick said. "We can watch a movie, go shopping, just hang out... what do you feel like doing?"

"At the moment?" she questioned, stifling a yawn. "Sleeping."

He made an exaggerated sigh before saying, "Fine, Sara, I'll sleep with you." He tried to make it sound like a chore. She turned bright red and tried to fix her last statement but Nick wouldn't hear of it. He turned to Warrick, "You heard the lady, Rick. She won't need a ride from you anymore; she wants me to give 'er a ride." A large, smug grin spread across his face as Warrick laughed at the double entendres. Had Sara not been so mortified she would have been laughing right along with them.

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A/N: The next chapter is the final one and will hold the one-on-one time that you've all been waiting for. It'll be up sometime tomorrow night. Hope you all stay tuned for the conclusion. 


	4. Honesty's the Best Policy

It had taken Sara half the ride to her apartment to regain composure, mostly because Nick kept looking over at her with a smug smirk that would remind her of the Freudian slip. Luckily, they had both been in this situation before and had perfected the art of avoidance. "His name is Milo," Nick grinned as he spouted on about the newest member of his family, the only thing he could think of to distract from the sexual tension.

"Aww," Sara gave a stereotypical coo at the mention of a new baby. "Milo is such a cute name."

"I'm sure it suits him," he winked, "He is my nephew, after all; he's got to be the cutest baby in the world."

"I'll overlook the vanity in that statement and pretend it was just your recently reinstated Uncle-pride talking," Sara giggled.

"Pride-shmide! I'll have proof in about a week that he is, in fact, the cutest baby ever. Rich said that he was going to develop the photos today and send me the best picture of the bunch." Sara loved how he absolutely lit up when he was talking about his family.

"Well congratulations," Sara said.

"Thanks," Nick beamed proudly.

Sara laughed, "So what number is Milo?"

"He's my eighth nephew, but I also have eleven nieces."

"Good grief!" she exclaimed. Sara couldn't imagine such a large family. "You must go broke every Christmas with all those kids to provide presents for."

"Presents aren't half the trouble at Christmas… it's the annual gathering of the entire Stokes brood that's the problem. We own a ranch with acres upon acres of land, and still it seems crammed with everyone there," there was a wistful quality to his voice. As much as Nick was glad to be on his own in Vegas, there was no mistaking the affection he had for his childhood home and family. They pulled into Sara's complex and made their way up to her apartment with Nick regaling Sara with amusing anecdotes from past family reunions.

When the invitation to hang out had been extended, both had figured that they would end up with their normal source of entertainment, a comfy couch and a DVD… but their conversation had been going so well since they left Catherine's that neither wanted to give it up. So they traded the DVD for a coffee and conversation. The conversation flowed smoothly; it seamlessly transitioned from nostalgic stories to serious subjects to simple, get-to-know-you-better questions. Sara rarely gave up details about her past but she found a few slipping out as their talk progressed; what's more is that she didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable as she normally did. However, it was the topic of the future that had Nick's interest piqued the most, which was unfortunate since it was one of the shortest. Since neither actually had a current relationship to set as the groundwork for a possible family, they couldn't expand too much in that area and they were both already set in their jobs… still it was nice to hear that she was hoping for a husband and family if fate would allow it.

Nick's second favourite moment was when they started talking about movies, music and even politics. They were the nonsense topics that didn't really matter but they provided him with opportunities to glance into the inner-working of Sara's relaxed, every-day thoughts. She had a unique perspective and a clever mind that could capture anyone's attention. So, he listened; and whenever possible, he argued against her just to get her riled up before he broke the tension with a well timed smile or flirty comment.

The comfort spell was only broken when they finally hit the subject that they had never been able to master with each other: love lives. The curious questions where always on the tip of the tongue of one of them, but the questions rarely made the jump to the other's ears. Sara was actually quite proud of herself for managing to survive almost three hours of intimate conversation with Nick without bringing up Sophia before. "What'd she whisper to you before she left?"

Nick smiled and decided to see if he could spot the jealousy that Sophia had told him about. He told her the last thing Sophia had whispered to him… minus one important detail, of course. "She told me to 'hurry up and make a move'." He cleared his throat uncomfortably as he felt his neck and face heat up once more, but he forced his eyes to remain on her so that he could see her reaction.

Sara was almost afraid to ask, but couldn't afford not to. "On her?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, seeing a bit of the desired effect. Plus, if he had given her an honest "no", her next question would be "who"… and since she was the answer, he couldn't give it.

"Curiosity, I suppose," she fibbed. "I spent all breakfast listening about how cozy you two are getting outside of work," Sara tried to keep a neutral face while she spoke but Nick noticed the corners of her mouth droop a little. Without warning, his heart sped up with hope. Sara, who had noticed where his eyes were looking, had to fight to remind herself that he wanted Sophia and not her. "You thinking about asking her out?" Sara ducked her head a bit so he couldn't see her frown this time.

Nick thought for a moment before responding. He had a strong impulse to immediately reassure Sara that he didn't want Sophia – she was a great girl but neither of them wanted more than friendship – however, more than that, he wanted to be sure that Sara actually was jealous rather than simply disapproving. "I dunno…" he shrugged and tilted his head to study her reaction as he added, "You think I should?" Sara's brows momentarily furrowed together and she didn't answer immediately; she was trying to decide whether to be a good friend and encourage him, since Sophia did seem interested in him, or be selfish and discourage him to save her own heart.

"I, uh," she cleared her throat to try and make it sound stronger and watched her fingers fiddle with the couch pillow she had in her lap. She decided a safe, avoidant answer was best in this situation, "I'm probably not the best person to ask…" Nick allowed a small smile to sneak on his lips as he asked her why. "Well, I don't really know Sophia that well so I don't know whether she'd agree or not."

"That's not really what I asked," he pointed out.

She looked confused for a minute. "…then I'm not sure what you want me to say…" she moved her eyes from the pillow up to his face. She swallowed thickly as she met his eyes.

He laughed nervously. "What I want you to say is 'No, Nick, I don't think you should ask her out.'"

"W-why do you want me to say that?" she looked slightly panicked and began wringing the pillow with her hands.

He reached over, took the pillow from her, and tossed it behind him without looking away from her face. He didn't fail to notice the way her gaze had shifted between his lips and eyes as he had leaned forward. "'Cause I asked for your opinion and I was lookin' for the honest answer."

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" she asked while struggling to keep her eyes off of his mouth.

"To find answers to other questions I'm too chicken-shit to ask," he replied instantly so he wouldn't lose his nerve. His eyes bore into hers and conveyed everything his lips wouldn't.

An anticipatory shiver ran down the length of her spine. "No, Nick, I don't think you should ask her out," she replied quietly yet confidently. Her eyes translated the words into the answers he was looking for.

"Good," he nodded slightly and reached out to her. His palm rested against her long graceful neck as his fingers curled around to cup the back of it, pulling her gently closer. His thumb stroked softly along her jaw. His other hand came to rest just above her knee as he shifted closer to her. He inched forward with surprising patience. He wanted to savour the way he was feeling, thinking that this may very well be the last first kiss he ever has, and so he prolonged his descent to her lips. Sara closed her eyes as Nick hovered millimetres from her lips, the scent and feel of his coffee breath warming her entire body.

Contact was made so slightly that to most people it wouldn't even count as a kiss. It was the absolute tiniest portion possible that was actually touching and it was so softly that the only reason she felt it was because she was concentrating so hard to feel it. The rest of their mouths remaining tantalizing close but didn't actually meet. "You won't hit me for this, right?" Nick whispered as he closed his eyes as well, his lips quickly and gently making contact as he formed the words. Still, no jury would ever declare that a real kiss either, since it was softer and faster than the feel of eyelashes blinking against bare skin.

"Not unless you suck at it," she whispered back with a small smile. Somewhere in the back of his mind he vaguely noted that he now owed Sophia $50 and a world of thanks since she was right; but the vast majority of his thoughts were just focusing on how ridiculously happy he felt by such a silly answer. His pleased smiled tightened his lips and broke what little contact they'd had. But before either could say another word, he had closed the distance completely. The impatient complaint that had been ready to spring from Sara's mouth a second ago turned into a low moan of encouragement. Nick deciphered the message and did as he was told, adding some more gusto into the kiss as well as his tongue. Without any conscious decision, they began to sink lower into the cushions until Nick had Sara pinned beneath him on the couch.

Things slowly started to heat up and as Nick sat up a bit to remove their shirts, Sara squirmed out from underneath him. Both were panting heavily so Nick just looked at her questioningly rather than struggling to form sentences. She smiled affectionately at the picture of him: his hair tussled and sticking in every direction, his chest exposed as his shirt hung loosely around his neck and one of his arms, his head tilted and wearing a cute quizzical expression. Sara decided the nonverbal path was the way to go so she simply held out her hand for him and tugged him along as she headed towards her bedroom. As soon as Nick caught on to what was happening, a playful twinkle entered his eyes. "Fine, Sara, I'll sleep with you," he attempted the same whiny tone he had used at Catherine's but failed miserably because of the lust that crept in.

"I'm not feeling all that tired anymore," she smiled seductively and the pair stumbled their way to her room in a blind jumble of hands and lips.

THE END.


End file.
